Understanding Swift typealias and ways to use it for the new semantic type
Swift is one of the most popular programming languages for building the iPhone apps, and hundreds of companies hire iPhone app developer for applications that can match their business logic. If you are building an iOS application, you may come across the term type alias. It allows the iPhone mobile app development experts to provide a new mane to the already existing data type in the application.
The best part of using Typealias is that once it is declared, you can use it in place of the existing type throughout the development phase. If you think that type alias is going to create a new data type, you are wrong. Instead of creating a new data type, it just renames the existing data type with the ability to use it throughout the app.
The only reason to use typealias is to make the application code more readable and clear for human understanding. You can also define it as a process to give nicknames to existing data types. So that the iPhone mobile app development experts can use them with ease.
Ways to create the type alias while developing an iPhone app
It is vital to hire skilled iPhone app developers with experience to use the typealias in your applications. There are three ways to declare the type alias keyword. Let’s go through them one by one:-
Built-in types
When you are using a type alias for built-in data types like strings, Int, Float, etc. it is called a built-in typealias for your application. Let’s try to understand it using an example.
Typealias EmployeeName = String
If you look at the above declaration for the String, you will notice that we are using EmployeeName. Once you substitute this typealias, you will be able to use the EmployeeName instead of String everywhere during the app development process. Though the above example creates a constant string type, it helps make the code more readable for the developer.
Typealias for user-defined types
Once you hire an iPhone app developer, you may need to create your data type while building the app functionalities. Let’s take an example where you need a new data type to represent the employees. The first thing you need to do is create a below class.
class Employees {
}
Now the employees will be represented as: var employees:Array<Employees> = []. It will help you to make the code more readable by using your type for creating a typealias as typealias employees = Array<employees>
Typealias for complex types
We can use these alias to overcome the problems of complex input parameters like closure. If you don’t hire an iPhone app developer, you may face troubles using the complex Typealias. Just consider it as a special function and try understanding the below example:-
func secondMethod(oncomp:(Int)->(String)){
}
In the above example, you will notice that we are taking closure as an input to Second Method. Once we use it, the closure will take an internal value and return strings. Use of the default values like (Int) or (String) may cause complications for the users while understanding the code so, we can replace it typealias.
Once you replace the code, you will notice that it will become more programmer-friendly while being clear than before.
Benefits of hiring iPhone mobile app development experts to use typealias
Clearer code
As we know that documentation is one of the significant parts of your app development phase. It is a must to keep the documentation simple by using a clear code. And here is where the role of typealias comes into play. You can make the complex codes more understandable because it provide option for renaming them using the alias. If the code is already justifying its function, it is unwise to overhead it using an alias.
Ease to apply optional closures
If you are willing to apply the optional closures while writing the code for your iPhone app, Swiftalias will make things much easier for you. Optional closures can help you capture the references from any variable in the context you define them. The optional closures are often complicated because they are nameless and without the keyword func.
Protocol combining
If you wish to add multiple protocols in one, then Swiftalias is a good choice as it facilitates the combining of multiple protocols like decodable and en-codable protocols. Make sure to use the services of a good developer while doing this, as it can create complications too.
Conclusion
Using Swiftalias by deciding to hire an iPhone app developer for it can turn into a great decision for apps that are meant to achieve success. You can find it handy while writing codes that include primitive data types and combining the complex protocols within your mobile app. We hope that this article will provide you with enough insights about using SwiftAlias in the iPhone app development process. Enjoy enhanced readability of your application code by deciding to use the Swift alias today.